Like the title says
It is so Cold today
The wind is Bold today
And I am Sold today
On staying in my bed.
Oh, No, the puppies said
No matter what your dread
We’ll dance upon your head
Until you see our way.
And so we’ll bark and bark
Eventually you’ll hark
You’ll take us to the park
So we can run and play.
(Sung to the tune of Tra-La-La Boom-de-ay)
I’m really excited about Maximum Security. It’s going to be another month before it comes out (November 21, Yikes!) and I can’t stand it, so I’m posting the first 10% here. This dog park mystery features my very own Max (yes, that’s her, above) as an escape artist (she’s playing to type). If you want to go straight to the dogs, skip the prologue and go to “Day 1.”
To get the PDF, click here > Maximum Security Sample
I hope you love it!
Here’s another picture, just because.
My response to Hugh’s latest blog post:
Well, almost free. I do have a small favor to ask. I’m trying to get the word out about A Shot in the Bark and Drool Baby to the sort of people who would enjoy my books. Which means dog park people. And the best place to find dog park people is at a dog park.
Does your dog park have a community board? Do you have access to a color printer? Would you be willing to print out the fetching flyer above and hang it on your dog park community board?
If you send me a photo of my flyer hanging at your dog park, I will gift you with a copy of A Shot in the Bark. If you’ve already read Shot, I’ll send Drool Baby. And if you’re one of my favoritest people in the world and have read both, I’ll put you on a list to get Maximum Security when it launches in November.
If you don’t have a dog park community board, but know of another public board where dog people congregate, talk to me first.
To get your book:
1. Click on this Dropbox Link and download either of the files. The PDF is the best quality, but it’s 12 MB. The JPG is only 1.2 MB.
2. Print out the flyer. Please print it full sized. It’s designed to fit on an 8.5 x 11 sheet of paper.
3. Hang the flyer securely on the community board at your dog park, or other agreed upon location.
4. Take a snapshot of the flyer in place. Be sure to include the background so I can see that it is hanging at a dog park and not a biker bar.
5. Send the photo to me at carolannnewsome AT netzero.net. Tell me where you hung the poster, and which book you want.
6. Bask in the warm glow of my eternal gratitude while reading your new book.
I’ve gotten some nifty submissions for my cover-dog contest. Check out Skyla, an agility dog who has mastered the art of jumping fences
And Sweet Baby, who is a real climber:
Then there’s Tug, exilting through a car window. Which is exactly what my Max used to do. Notice the fetching pink restraint:
I love seeing everyone’s furry children. I also love the different ways in which people are approaching the concept. I had a pretty clear idea what I wanted when I made the original post, April 21. Now I’m looking at this project in an entirely new way. The theme is still Canine Jailbreak, and I still need a good picture of the face, but the type of jailbreak is up to you.
The contest does not end until July 30th, so there’s still time to catch your personal escape artist in the act.
In case you’ve forgotten the rules, here they are:
Caught in the Act Cover-Dog Contest
Is your dog the reincarnation of Houdini? Can he find his way out of tight places? Is no fence safe?
I need a cover dog. And I’m willing to give the finished oil painting portrait of this dog (16″ x 20″ or larger) to whomever supplies me with the photo after I’m done photographing it for the cover. The winner gets the painting, I keep the reproduction rights. The winner and canine will also get an attribution in my book, along with a brief profile.*
The name of the book is Maximum Security. It features my dog Max as an escape artist. Only problem is, I featured Max on the cover of A Shot in the Bark and I can’t use her again. So I need another dog face.
I need a decent photo of a dog squeezing under a fence or other tight place. It must include the dog’s face, from the front or a slight angle. Extra credit for a manic look in the eyes. The more expressive, the better! More points for rescues. You can submit as many photos as you like. You don’t need to be a professional photographer, just be able to capture the face and have it in focus. I’ll post my favorites on this blog. Send your photo to carolannnewsome@netzero.net Put “Caught in the Act!” in the subject line.
You must have taken the photo yourself and either own the dog or have the owner’s permission.
I expect to be working on the painting in August or September, so there’s plenty of time to take pictures. As an enticement, I am posting photos of prior covers and other pet portraits so you can see what I do. We’ll say the deadline is July 30, 2013.
*By submitting your photo to this contest, you are giving me permission to post it on this blog. If your photo is selected, you are giving me permission to use it as source material for a painting to be used as a cover on my up-coming book, Maximum Security, and for other commercial purposes.The winner will receive the finished painting and no other compensation. The winner receives bragging rights only, and does not receive any reproduction rights associated with the finished painting.
I don’t, really. But Robert Marx shot that pit bull at my dog park, on my stomping grounds and people are still talking about it ten days later. I’ve had two people enthuse how I should build a novel around it. This would involve people shooting vicious dogs, and the revenge killings that follow. It would be a blood-bath, I’m told.
Regarding this incident, the press is one sided and inaccurate. Robert Marx isn’t talking and Kaitlynn Hornsby isn’t telling the truth. She refers to Bruski as a “big baby” and paints him as a friendly dog who was initially attacked by Marx’s border collie mix. (Rumor has it that Hornsby has been asked to leave other dog parks and not come back.)
The most balanced reporting was in USA today, which stuck with police reports and did not quote Ms. Hornsby. Other news outlets contain such faux gems as:
Huffington Post: Kaitlynn Hornsby and Silas Parker say their pit bull was being playful with Marx’s dog on Tuesday when the other dog bit it. They say their pit bull bit back and Marx killed it within seconds.
Columbus Dispatch: “He didn’t even give me a chance to break up the fight,” said Hornsby.
Only one of the news outlets I checked have cited any of the witnesses.
This morning, a man I have known for years only as “Moe’s Dad,” was sharing what he saw when I arrived at the dog park today. He is one of two witnesses I’ve spoken with since the shooting.
The first witness I spoke with was sitting with Bob and his wife, Lois, when a melee between a large number of dogs broke out. He stated that Bob was sitting many yards away from the fight and you could here his dog screaming. Bob is 74 and has diabetes. He has limited movement and it took him some time to arrive at the fight. By then it had winnowed down to the two dogs, Bruski and Rowdy.
Both of my witnesses state that neither owner was nearby when the fight broke out. So I want to know, how does Ms. Hornsby know which dog started it? (Another news outlet states witnesses reported seeing Bruski attack Rowdy.)
Moe’s dad said he noticed Bruski behaving aggressively when he arrived at the park that afternoon, and that he told Ms. Hornsby that she needed to control her dog better. Then he took Moe to the back of the park to get away from any possible altercation between the dogs. When the fight broke out, he went to the fray. I forgot to ask him why. Possibly Moe ran towards the fight, as dogs tend to do. He did say he was trying to keep Moe out of it.
He arrived among the circle of onlookers after Marx tazed the dog. He stated both dogs were limp and perfectly still. He saw Marx lean over and “puff up the other dog like a loaf of bread,” Marx then moved around to the side of the dog, pressed his gun up on Bruski’s shoulder, 2 inches to the side of the spine and fired. He stated Bruski did not respond while Marx was handling him. He demonstrated the angle of Marx’s shot, which was about 30 degrees. He stated he was standing on the other side of the dog from Marx and was afraid at the time that the bullet would go through the dog and hit him. He said Bob never looked up to see what was on the other side of the dog when he fired. He also stated that it took several seconds after the shot was fired before Bruski responded by getting up and walking a short distance, then falling down.
Neither witness I talked to was able see whether anyone made any effort to separate the dogs before Marx tazed the dog. It can be concluded by the distance Marx had to cover to get to the fight that there was time for intervention before he arrived. Moe’s dad covered acres of ground to get to the fight and arrived before Marx shot Bruski.
Moe’s dad said Bruski’s jaws were still around Rowdy’s neck after he was tazed, and Marx made no attempt to separate the dogs once they were both laying limp on the ground. We both suspect (but do not know) that the dogs could have been safely and easily separated at that point.
I’m just sick about this.
Neither owner was in the right. Hornsby should have had better control of her dog and Marx should have stopped once the dogs were limp. Regardless of how you feel about pit bull attacks, Marx is guilty of shooting a firearm in city limits. It is against state law to use a firearm to defend personal property. Everyone who completes a concealed carry course is told this. They are also told that pets are classified as property.
As I said, I don’t have a dog in this fight. I’m not about to defend either owner. But there are things we can take away from this.
2. Keep your dog under close supervision when strange dogs are around.
3. Know the difference between “rough play” vs. aggression and predator behavior, and if your dog tends towards aggression, don’t take it to the dog park.
4. Dog fights are more likely to happen when a crowd of dogs forms. I see crowds of dogs forming because their owners are congregating in large groups, and dogs tend to stay near their owners when others are around. So don’t congregate in large groups.
5. If you see a large group forming, take your dog to another part of the park.
6. If you see a dog behaving in an aggressive manner, take your dog to another part of the park or leave.
7. Dog parks are not a good place for small children. Even if the dogs are just playing, it’s easy for them to knock even adults over.
8. If your dog starts behaving aggressively, put it on a leash and get it under control. Take it to another part of the park or leave.
9. The safest way to intervene in a dog fight is to grab the aggressor (both dogs, if possible) by the hind legs, then lift the hind legs up while pulling to the side. A vet tells me she successfully used this maneuver on a pit bull.
10. Do not bring treats or food into a dog park. Some dogs are food aggressive. Your dog may be fine, but you don’t know about the others.
Dog parks are an invaluable resource for those of us who do not have a fenced yard, have inadequate space for exercise, or want to provide socialization for their pets. To keep access to these places, it’s important to remain alert, be responsible and think defensively.
Finally, the election is over. I can turn my phone back on because the endless barrage of political calls (I live in Ohio) has stopped. The arguments that had us declaring “Red” and “Blue” areas at the dog park have been reduced to mutterings and will die out in a few days.
Life goes on.
If you’re new to this blog, it may be because you are following the trail of “The Next Big Thing” blog hop. Follow the trail backwards and check out the work of Joy Sydney Williams Follow it forward to discover . . . Who knows? But before you go on, stop a while and find out about my latest release, “Drool Baby.”
Q & A
1. What is the working title of your book?
I just published My second novel, “Drool Baby.” We’ll be talking about that one since book three is still a vague glimmering in the back of my mind.
2. Where did the idea come from for the book?
There were issues that needed to be addressed from my first book. This book wraps up the storyline in “A Shot in the Bark.” But the underlying premise came from my disgust that in every series I’ve ever read, the main character trips over dead bodies and fends off murderous villains and it never affects them.
So Lia, my main character, is traumatized by her brush with death in the first book, and she’s in therapy because of it. She’s also in serious denial, because one of her dog park friends has been doing truly awful things. And I thought, if it was me, and someone said my friend was a killer, how would I react? I wouldn’t believe it. Period.
3. What genre does your book fall under?
Dog park cozy romantic mystery thrillers?
I’m an amalgamation of genres. I take everything I love about different books and jam it all in there, like the sandwiches I made when I was a child. It’s got romance, suspense and mystery. It’s also got a bit of thriller in it. One reviewer referred to it as a cozy mystery with back-bone. I liked that. My model is the TV show, “Bones.” I like the warmth of the relationships contrasted by the heinous crimes and the ‘yuck’ factor.
4. Which actors would you choose to play your characters in a movie rendition?
Christian Bale to play detective Peter Dourson. Probably Keira Knightly for Lia, but she’d have to change her hair to a streaky chestnut.
5. What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book?
Peter is at his wits end trying to protect a disbelieving Lia while a killer hones her craft.
6. Is your book self-published, published or represented by an agency?
Self-Pubbed, and loving it.
7. How long did it take you to write the first draft of your manuscript?
Seven months? Maybe a little more.
8. What other books would you compare this story to within your genre?
Nora Roberts meets John Sandford, maybe?
9. Who or What inspired you to write this book?
Thousands of hours hanging out at the dog park. I was compelled to expose the seething passions underlying all those monotonous conversations about the weather.
10. What else about your book might pique the reader’s interest?
Mount Airy Dog Park is a real place and I go there every day with my three rescues. Most of my characters are based on my dog park buddies. Almost all the dogs in the books appear as themselves. Alas, Peter Dourson is only a figment of my imagination.
That’s it for this stop on “The Next Big Thing.” For the next author on the trail, check out my friend, Stephen Scott. He’ll be blogging about his work next Wednesday.
Happy Trails!
Most people start their day with a hot shower and a cup of coffee while they contemplate world events and what to wear.
I wake up to a cold nose, heavy breathing and three pairs of eyes giving me that “well, are you going to take us out or do we get to pee on the floor today” look.
I take my rowdy hooligans to the dog park every day. That means EVERY day. First thing. The only time we don’t go to the park is if there is a blinding snow storm or driving rain. Only the post office is more reliable. But hey, they get Sundays off.
When most people think of the dog park, they think of lofting tennis balls for a delirious retriever as the sun shines and gentle zephyrs waft.
Those of us who frequent the park just after sunrise think about survival. We are half-awake and slogging through wet grass, mud, snow, ice, and yes, dog poop.
We suffer extreme changes of temperature (this morning it went from 45 to 65 degrees while I was there). We get body slammed by exuberant Labs and slimed by affectionate Mastiffs. Four-legged buddies frequently autograph our clothes with muddy paws.
We may look like walking rag bins, but we’re just being practical. I’ve got my favorite sweats that I religiously wash once a week. Their sole purpose to to take abuse at the park. In cold weather we go in for two or three pairs of socks and numerous layers. Vests are great. Hoodies are popular. For freezing weather, I have a cowl I knitted just for the park.
And all of it is worn until it’s falling apart.
The last several months, John Cunningham has been telling everyone he meets at the park about “A Shot in the Bark.” Suddenly I’m an Author and I can’t get away with being anonymous. I feel this alien responsibility to not go around looking like a bag lady.
First thing to go were the shoes. I have to say that my suede LL Bean clogs were the best $29 I’ve ever spent. I wore them daily for more than six years and since they were the designated dog park shoes, they suffered indignities only exceeded in third world jungles. Shadda was also especially fond of them, you can see this by the “love bites” on the uppers. Even after she grew out of chewing on them, I would come home to find her curled up with one. They were reliable and uncomplaining and I took them for granted.
This spring, I took a good look at them and the seams were splitting and the soles were falling apart (what do you expect from something that’s been worn more than two thousand times?)
Wednesday, I got my new shoes in the mail. I now have classic Crocs in navy (I wanted purple, but they were out. This is perhaps a good thing) They are feather light and soft and waterproof, just the thing for slogging through dewy grass at dawn. They can be hosed off.
The success of the Crocs had me thinking of further improvements to my dog park uniform. I have a great, lined winter vest (thank you, Paul and Angie) but my summer vest is an old khaki jacket of my dad’s with the sleeves ripped away and half the buttons chewed off (courtesy Shadda, the high-concept designer).
I started looking for vests. Photographer’s vests, fisherman’s vests, tactical vests. Turns out, some of the most utilitarian vests are concealed carry vests. John Cunningham has one he wears to the park and he highly recommends it (along with the appropriate firearms).
I have settled on the Uncle Milty Travel Vest, which has 16 (or is it 17?) pockets. Perfect for keeping my cell phone, Kindle, wallet, the day’s crossword puzzle, and a supply of poo bags. Leaving me with another 11 pockets to confuse myself with.
My vest is due in next week. I can’t wait.
Lia Anderson Dog Park Mysteries by C.A. Newsome 